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Nerlens Noel Rumors: Lakers, Wizards, Thunder, Pelicans in the Mix
July 2, 2018
Free-agent center Nerlens Noel is considering the Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder as he weighs his next move, Yahoo Sports' Shams Charania reported Sunday.
According to Charania, the New Orleans Pelicans have also expressed interest in Noel, but they don't appear to have made his final cut.
The 2017-18 season couldn't have gone much worse for Noel. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported he turned down a four-year, $70 million offer and instead accepted a $4.1 million qualifying offer from the Dallas Mavericks.
Noel proceeded to appear in just 30 games for the Mavs, averaging 4.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 0.7 blocks. He was out of Dallas' final five games while serving a suspension following a violation of the NBA's anti-drug program.
Despite how much Noel's stock has fallen, he's still an enticing free agent. He averaged 11.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks in his second season with the Philadelphia 76ers, displaying a wide array of skills. Noel just turned 24 in April as well, so he still has plenty of time to get his career back on track.
The Wizards, Lakers and Thunder all need centers to varying degrees.
Washington traded Marcin Gortat to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Lakers agreed to a one-year deal with JaVale McGee, per ESPN.com's Chris Haynes, but McGee isn't a great replacement for the outgoing Brook Lopez. And Oklahoma City could use Noel as depth behind Steven Adams.
